Adjusting brake bias w/ MC selection


#1

I don’t think this is do-able. I always thought it could be done, but as usual, as time goes by I figure out that, one by one, all my early ideas were wrong.

If you look around you’ll see that MC’s come in different bore sizes. Some have straight bores, and some MC specs provide 2 different bore sizes. I’m talking about MC’s marketed as OEM replacement, not an effort to use wrong MC’s that happen to fit our car. In fact, if you carefully go thru RealOEM, you’ll see MC’s with different bore sizes in the various years and models.

This idea of different MC bore sizes was long understood to be a rear bore and a front bore. It followed that one could direct more pressure to the rear brakes by selecting an MC with a smaller rear bore.

I had totally bought into this. Over the years I’d tried different MCs trying to feel out a relationship between MC bore size, biasing, and stopping distances.

But this morning I figured out that it might be all wrong. The 2 different bore size measurements are apparently not front and rear, but an MC design that quickfills the caliper to get the pad up against the piston, then the MC’s smaller bore takes over and applies the calibrated pressure.

Google master cylinder step bore. Here’s one such http://www.freeasestudyguides.com/brakes-quick-take-up-master-cylinder.html


#2

Scott, that is a recent development…not something that BMW would have twenty years ago. Your initial impression of bore sizes is correct. However, I always used the stock MC with excellent results.


#3

You’re sure? You’ve actually measured this? I’ve no idea what bore sizes a stock MC is supposed to have, I’ve seen references to bore sizes that are all over the map.

I did pull an MC apart a couple years ago. I wanted to see if I could rebuild it using a kit that included new seals. The answer to that was “no.”

I don’t recall that I measured the bore sizes.


#4

According to realoem.com, every e30:

34311154918

Brake master cylinder
20,64MM

From:09/01/1983To:-Weight:1.015 kg

used the same MC. Obviously that is not the case but the 20,64MM should be the starting point.

And no, I have not measured…just always used what the parts house listed as stock.


#5

The small cylinder mounted inline on the frame below the MC is a brake force regulator. I had the idea of trying to find a substitute BMW part which would have better rear bias, but then I started using dtc70’s and forgot about the idea. Of course it would be illegal without a rule change. Maybe I’m wrong about this but real oem does indeed call it a brake pressure regulator. It’s #5 in “brake pipe rear.”

http://stoptech.com/technical-support/technical-white-papers/proportioning-valves

Edit: Now I see you already discussed this in the other thread.